Eyes of the Eagle

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Assassin's Creed/The Secret World
Summary: Desmond acquires a clue and goes hunting.
Word Count: 940
Rating: Teen

 

         Once he actually makes it to the ship, it’s actually fairly easy, though he does get ambushed by some sailor-zombie wearing a captain’s hat. Problem is, there is something useful here. In a chest. With some of those glowy protective runes on it, and he hadn’t figured out how to open that kind of thing yet, so he sends a picture to Rebecca, complete with ‘help’.
         Rebecca takes her time answering, so she’s probably in the middle of something. Normally, he wouldn’t mind, but he’s still uncomfortably damp surrounded by Draug in a thicker part of the fog, and he really doesn’t want to try to get back here for a third time if one of them starts singing again. He shifts uncomfortably. A raven croaks.

Rebecca: wait, you have an actual third eye?

Me: ???no?? I’m not an alien

         He’s interrupted by a sudden call...from Shaun? He accepts the call, and yep, that’s Shaun, and he sounds breathless with excitement, which derails Desmond’s entire line of thinking briefly. “You have a Third Eye?”
         “I don’t actually know what you’re asking.” Sure, okay, it sounds like they’re asking about Eagle Vision, but he’d thought that wasn’t a thing, here, and that’s definitely not one of the terms he’s heard used.
         “You can perceive things beyond ordinary sight. That, or you’re hallucinating, because there’s nothing in the image except a chest, and you certainly sound coherent enough to me.” He pauses briefly for an answer, but when Desmond doesn’t give him one immediately he just keeps going. “There’s a theory going around that that’s actually why the Freemasons use the All-Seeing Eye as a symbol—you’ve heard of that one, haven’t you, it’s on your bloody currency for crying out loud—and it’s only partially right; a few Freemasons did have the Third Eye, but the world for most of its existence has been a very religious one. You didn’t have to hide this; this is brilliant. Cuts out the step of having to die to see the spirit world…”
         “If you were convinced you were alone, you’re not,” Rebecca interrupts, though from the sound of it Shaun is still going. “I mean, it’s rare. Like, really, really rare, one in a thousand or so a few years back, and it’s getting rarer all the time, but you’re definitely not the only one.”
         Uh—okay. Desmond’s going to unpack that. Later. Also whoops, because he wasn’t even in Eagle Vision and he’s apparently seeing something they can’t, which is a hell of a way to give himself away even if it’s not as big a deal as he’d thought. “That’s great, but I’m still just standing around on a ship with a bunch of Draug around and I could really use your help here.”
         “Describe what you’re seeing,” Shaun orders.
         “Uh. There’s some symbols. A cross, and a triangle, and what looks like a fancy…” He stares at it, trying to figure out how to describe it. At least these don’t look like they’re painted in blood. “The last one’s an eye. Hang on.” He gives up and just scratches a rough approximation in the floorboards with his Hidden Blade and takes a picture of that and sends it, too.
         “Nice thinking, Des,” Rebecca tells him, before Shaun interrupts her again.
         “While that might appear like a Greek letter Psi, it’s in fact supposed to be a phoenix. Most of those are Illuminati symbols. The cross is not, though it’s not clear if it’s meant to mock us or if that indicates a double agent…” Rebecca clears her throat, and Shaun remembers himself. “Right, well, the most common password has to do with your ability, actually. The All-Seeing Eye. Triangle—it’s likely supposed to be a pyramid—and the Eye, simultaneously. The real lock is being able to see this in the first place, though most have to use a spell.”
         The chest opens easily. There’s just a journal inside, though. It is gold to his Eagle Vision, so it’s not like it’s worthless, but he’d been hoping for some treasure, too. Still, it’s a fisherman’s vessel, not, like, a pirate vessel, so yeah, it wouldn’t have gold or jewels or anything, would it.
         “Thanks, guys.” He could’ve just started trying combinations, but even if the one in Templar Hall didn’t react by using a spell to freeze him in place doesn’t mean this one isn’t.
         “It’s our pleasure,” she responds, and after a grunt that sounds like Rebecca might have elbowed him, Shaun mutters something, even if Desmond can’t quite make out what it is. The journal’s going in his bag, along with everything else he’s collected so far—and given that the ammo hasn’t been ruined, he’s going with ‘it’s waterproof too’. (Fortunately it doesn’t seem like his gun gets affected by being in the water, either.) While he could actually wait to go after the bigger fish Draug, from a quick look up here (it’s not that far up, but the top of the little boat is the best he can do) all of the targets that light up like beacons are out there, in the water. And he’s already wet, so it won’t matter too much if he gets himself more wet, it’ll just stay equally gross.
         And yeah, okay, so getting out there (past all the troops) is gonna be a pain, and from the fact that some of them look like giant jellyfish or even bigger crab-men it doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to take them out with a single good strike, but this is gonna be fun. Hunt first, shower later.